GroveWorks

Holiday event season is here! 🎁

These are some of the places you’ll find me over the next couple of months with the From The Grove books, workbooks (coming soon), and other GroveWorks goodies. 🙂

If you’re at one of these events, come find me and say Hi! I’d love to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones too.

Please shop with small businesses this year.

And yes, there are a few more dates still to come, so stay tuned.

Often, brain aneurysms appear without warning, just like one did for our founder Amy.

Please take a minute to review this amazing info from The Bee Foundation.

I hate to admit it, but a very large, nationally known company blew my socks off with their customer service today.

Last week I had to cancel the auto-ship of my dog meds and food from Chewy, since she passed away.

Look what arrived in today's mail! A beautiful, personalized note, and velvet wrapped, hand painted memorial.

This small act of kindness not only surprised me, it made me want to do business with them again, AND most importantly, it reminded ME to do better in my service to others.

Simon Says Give volunteers are busy packing thousands of backpacks with school supplies, and through the generosity of Commerce Bank, 325 of those backpacks will also contain a copy of What Can I Do?

This fourth book in the From The Grove story series helps children understand personal agency, including how their choices, thoughts, words, and actions can help shape what happens next. It reminds them that even when they cannot control everything around them, they are not powerless.

In the next few weeks, these backpacks will be delivered to students so they can begin the school year with supplies, encouragement, and practical tools to help them move forward with confidence.

I’m so grateful to Commerce Bank for generously sponsoring the inclusion of my books for the past two years, and to Simon Says Give and its volunteers for preparing and distributing thousands of backpacks throughout our communities.

Learn more about these two amazing organizations at: SimonSaysGive.org and CBMN.bank (located in Edina and Geneva, MN)

Earlier this week I wrote about how words cast spells.

I found out how literal that is during my own recovery. On the days where I said "I can't" or "I used to," all of the cells in my body and brain felt drained, defeated and worthless.

But when I mustered the strength to choose words that were kind, supportive, and helpful to me, I realized I had an inner strength and excitement that allowed me to keep going, even when I wanted to quit.

I still slip back into the old phrases sometimes (I am human). I think the goal is noticing when it happens, choosing helpful and kind thoughts, and repeating them to yourself over and over until one of your little cells starts to believe.

Try this today: Write down one sentence that is kind and true, and read it out loud enough times that one of your little cells starts to believe it.

I don't usually do this, but I feel the need to share something.

I recently saw a post written by someone I know that was cruel. It wasn't edgy or bold, it was just plain mean. What made me even more sad was the number of people who liked it and commented in agreement, joining in like it was normal.

We were taught a version of this lesson as kids -"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" - but it was NEVER true.

Words do hurt! They hurt the person they're aimed at, and they hurt the reputation of the person who says them. And now, those words live forever on the internet.

People we've never met are still humans - they have feelings and families.

Here's the part I need to say about myself - that post woke me up to my own behavior too. I've "liked" things, smiled at comments, and shared posts that I should've ignored.

I don't expect perfection from anyone, including myself (because God knows I'm not!). But I am asking the people in my world to take a minute before they post, like, or comment, and consider what it says about them, not just about the person or situation they're talking about.

If a few of us change how we show up online, others will start to follow.

We just celebrated the 4th of July in the U.S., a holiday built around a document filled with words like liberty, justice, pursuit, and freedom. Words that inspired people to believe a different future was possible.

Now think about the words you use every day to describe yourself and your future. Do they sound like:

"I have to..."
"I'm always behind."
"I'm not good at..."

Your brain pays attention to this repetition, and the words begin to feel true.

Try this today: Choose one phrase you've been repeating that isn't serving you, and replace it with one that actually supports you, like:

"I get to..."
"I'm making progress."
"I'm learning how to..."

Small shifts in our language create meaningful shifts in how we experience our days and, ultimately, our lives!

Happy Independence Day!

Today, many of us will celebrate freedom with family gatherings, parades, fireworks, lake or pool days, backyard barbecues, and time with people we love.

I want us to also acknowledge what we're internally free to do, like:
👉rest without earning it,
👉change our mind,
👉set a boundary,
👉try something new,
👉stop chasing something that no longer fits, and
👉become more of who we already are.

Earlier this week, we talked about permission slips and how many adults spend years waiting for someone else to tell them it's okay to move forward.

What if no one is coming to hand you that permission slip? What if you already have it?

Sometimes the most meaningful freedoms aren't the ones written on paper; they're the choices we make every day about how we live, what we value, and who we want to become.

Try this today: Enjoy the people around you, appreciate the freedoms we often take for granted, and maybe give yourself permission to choose something you've been waiting on.

That feels worth celebrating too.

Earlier this week we talked about how many of us are waiting for someone else's approval before we let ourselves move forward.

The harder layer underneath that is how automatic it becomes. We don't always realize we're doing it because seeking permission was wired in early, through school systems, family dynamics, and workplaces that rewarded compliance over initiative.

I've noticed it shows up in small, quiet ways for me. I'll hesitate before posting something honest, second-guess a boundary I know I need to set, or talk myself out of a decision I've already made because I haven't "run it by" someone yet.

None of that is weakness. It's just an old habit I haven’t changed yet.

The good news is that our brains respond to what we practice. Every time we make a decision without outsourcing the approval, we’re building a new pattern. It feels uncomfortable at first because "unfamiliar" and "unsafe" feel the same to a nervous system that learned to wait.

Try this today: Make one small decision today without checking with anyone first, and notice what happens in your body when you do.

I just had to jump on the band-wagon!👉

Asking for permission feels responsible, but most of the time it's just fear wearing a more acceptable disguise.

Courage looks less dramatic than people expect. It's just keeping the decision for yourself before anyone else weighs in.

Try this today: notice the next time you reach for someone else's approval, and choose your own first.